Feed device for cloth folding machines

ABSTRACT

A feed device for material folding machines comprises a holding plate secured to a vertically movable member of a displaceable lifting apparatus, the plate extending horizontally towards one side of the lifting apparatus. The holding plate serves as a carrier for a carriage which is horizontally displaceable on the plate, and attached to each of the two ends of the carriage is a forwardly overhanging arm for carrying a roll of material. The carriage is constituted of two telescoping parts for adjusting the spacing between the arms.

i nited States Patent 91 Stnmpll [54] FEET) DEVICE FOR CLOTH FOLDING MACHINES [76] Inventor: Giinter Stumpf, Kreis Munsingen,

7421 Mehrstetten, Germany [22] Filed: July 8, 1971 [21] Appl.No.: 160,819

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 21, 1970 Germany ..o 70 31 432.8

[52] U.S. Cl ..214/730, 214/731, 2l4/DIG. 4 [51] Int. Cl. ..B66f 9/14 [58] Field of Search ..214/730, 731, DIG. 3,

2l4/DlG. 4, 3.1, 750.1 P, 3

[56] I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Berge ..214/730 [45] May 9, 11973 2,822,101 2/195 8 Schenkelberger .2 l 4/ 730 2,579,730 12/1951 Eurey ..214/DIG. 4 3,239,038 3/1966 Sano ..214/730 Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant ra nflflawmn ,Q Attorney Waters, Roditi, Schwartz et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT A feed device for material folding machines comprises a holding plate secured to a vertically movable member of a displaceable lifting apparatus, the plate extending horizontally towards one side of the lifting apparatus. The holding plate serves as a carrier for a carriage which is horizontally displaceable on the plate, and attached to each of the two ends of the carriage is a forwardly overhanging arm for carrying a roll of material. The carriage is constituted of two telescoping parts for adjusting the spacing between the arms.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a feed device for supplying a roll of material to a folding machine.

Hitherto, the feeding of rolls of material such as cloth, fabric, or the like, to folding machines has been manually achieved, or effected with the aid of ligting-in devices fixedly arranged at one end of the folding table which, through the agency of lifting means such as chains, hoisting tackle, etc., introduced the rolls of material into the folding machine which had previously been laced in a suitable position.

The disadvantage of this feed arrangement is that the folding machine must, after laying-out a roll of material, always be displaced to the starting position at said end, even if the roll of material has been depleted at the other end of the ttable and further-laying with the second roll of material must be effected also from this point. In this case, in order to load a fresh roll of material, the machine is required to travel twice along the entire length of the table. A further disadvantage is that only one folding machine can be served with a lifting-in device and, furthermore, it is necessary to provide a supplementary transport apparatus for bringing the cloth rolls up to the lifting-in device.

An object of the invention is to provide a feed device which obviates the aforementioned disadvantages. In principle, said device comprises the combination of a known simple lifting apparatus and a novel material receiving device.

According to the invention, a holding or support plate extending horizontally along one side is secured to the vertically movable portion of a known travelling lifting apparatus, said holding plate serving as a carrier of a slide or carriage which is displaceable horizontally on the carrier. A forwardly overhanging carrier arm for a .roll of material is arranged at each end of the carriage.

With the aid of the feed device according to the invention, it is possible to displace the roll of material carried by the carriage, at the side of the folding table, up to any desired point on the folding table and, by means of the lifting apparatus, to introduce the roll of material into the folding machine. With this arrangement, 1. plurality of folding machines may be simultaneously fed one after the other, using one and the same feeding device.

In order to permit adaptation of the feed device to varying widths of rolls of materials, according to a feature of the invention the carriage comprises a fixed tube (preferably a rectangular tube) in which a second tube is telescopically and non-rotatably displaceable and is adaptable for being secured to the fixed tube in a. desired position of extension depending on the width of the roll. One of the carrier arms is arranged at the outer end of the inner tube and the other at the remote end of the outer tube.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I shows a feed device according tothe invention, in front elevation;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. I; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. I.

DETAILED DESC Il 0N In FIG. I there is shown a conventional lifting apparatus I with a portion (not shown) which can be raised and lowered by means of an electrical, pneumatic or hydraulic drive. Secured to the portion which can be raised and lowered is an elongate holding or support plate 2 extending beyond the left-hand side (FIG. ll) of the lifting apparatus and on which four guide rollers 3. are attached. A carriage 4 is displaceably mounted in the guide rollers and secured to the front side of the carriage is a tube 5 of square cross section. A cloth roll carrier 6 in the form of a forwardly projecting arm is welded at the right-hand end of the carriage 4. A second rectangular tube 7 is mounted for displacement in the rectangular tube 5. A second cloth roll carrier 6', also in the form of a forwardly projecting arm, is welded at the left end of tube 7. Both cloth roll carrier arms are formed with an upwardly open recess for the insertion of a cloth holding rod d carrying the cloth roll 16. By extending or retracting the two rectangular tubes 5 and 7, the spacing between the cloth roll carrier arms 6 and 6' may be varied and adjusted to the particular width of the cloth roll. To fix the adjusted spacing between the cloth roll carrier arms, there is employed a push pin 9 which is pushed into corresponding transverse bores 9' formed in the rectangular tubes.

The longitudinally displaceable carriage 4 has stops at the left end for a normal position and stops 10 at the right-hand end for limitation of extension to the left.

At the base of the feed device are four steerable travel rollers or casters II, at least two of which are lockable. A hingeable support arm 12, also provided with a travel roller, prevents tilting of the device when operating with heavy, wide cloth rolls, the support arm being secured in position by means of a clamp 13. Reference numeral 14 designates an opeating console for actuating the lifting apparatus I. Instead of the support arm, it is also possible to provide a counterwieght I5 indicated in chain-dotted lines, at the right side of the lifting apparatus.

FIG. I shows the feed device, with a cloth roll 16 (shown by a continuous thin line) in the normal position. In this position, the cloth roll is tranported, for example, from storage to the folding machine (not shown). After the device has been displaced laterally to a folding table, the cloth roll may be manually extended to the position I6 shown in chain-dotted lines and by lowering the lifting apparatus, the cloth roll can be introduced into the carrier device of the folding machine.

The feed device according to the invention is suitable not only for rolls of material such as cloth, but also for rolls of leather, plastic and the like.

What is claimed is:

I. A feed device for a roll of material, said device comprising a displaceable lifting apparatus, a support member secured to said displaceable lifting apparatus and extending horizontally at one side thereof for vertical displacement up and down, a carraige mounted on said support member for vertical movement therewith, said carriage having opposite ends and comprising first and second telescopic tubes, overhang'ng carrying arms at the ends of the carriage for supporting a support rod of a roll of material, each said tube carrying a respective carrier arm, and means supporting said carriage from said support member for transverse horizontal movement to enable regulation of the horizontal position of the roll of material to control deposit of the roll of material onto a folding machine.

2. A feed device as claimed in claim ll wherein said tubes are rectangular in cross-section.

3. A feed device as claimed in claim 1 comprising at least two pairs of guide rollers on said support member between which the carrier guidably travels.

4. A feed device as claimed in claim 1 comprising locking means for securing the telescopic tubes when the carrier arms are at a desired spacing.

5. A feed device as claimed in claim 4 wherein said locking means comprises a displaceable push pin, said tubes having a longitudinal row of transverse bores 4 therein, said pin being pushable into aligned bores in the tubes.

6. A feed device as claimed in claim 1 comprising stop means at each end of the carriage for limiting horizontal travel of the carriage in opposite directions.

7. A feed device as claimed in claim 1 comprising a support arm mounted at the lower end of the lifting apparatus for preventing tilting of the device when heavy, wide cloth rolls are used.

8. A feed device as claimed in claim 7 wherein said support arm is hingedly connected to said lifting apparatus.

e 1: a m a 

1. A feed device for a roll of material, said device comprising a displaceable lifting apparatus, a support member secured to said displaceable lifting apparatus and extending horizontally at one side thereof for vertical displacement up and down, a carraige mounted on said support member for vertical movement therewith, said carriage having opposite ends and comprising first and second telescopic tubes, overhanging carrying arms at the ends of the carriage for supporting a support rod of a roll of material, each said tube carrying a respective carrier arm, and means supporting said carriage from said support member for transverse horizontal movement to enable regulation of the horizontal position of the roll of material to control deposit of the roll of material onto a folding machine.
 2. A feed device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said tubes are rectangular in cross-section.
 3. A feed device as claimed in claim 1 comprIsing at least two pairs of guide rollers on said support member between which the carrier guidably travels.
 4. A feed device as claimed in claim 1 comprising locking means for securing the telescopic tubes when the carrier arms are at a desired spacing.
 5. A feed device as claimed in claim 4 wherein said locking means comprises a displaceable push pin, said tubes having a longitudinal row of transverse bores therein, said pin being pushable into aligned bores in the tubes.
 6. A feed device as claimed in claim 1 comprising stop means at each end of the carriage for limiting horizontal travel of the carriage in opposite directions.
 7. A feed device as claimed in claim 1 comprising a support arm mounted at the lower end of the lifting apparatus for preventing tilting of the device when heavy, wide cloth rolls are used.
 8. A feed device as claimed in claim 7 wherein said support arm is hingedly connected to said lifting apparatus. 